An Injured anti-government protester receives help after an explosion during a march in Bangkok. The explosive device injured protesters participating in an anti-government campaign. (Photo: European Pressphoto Agency)

An anti-government protester picks up a rock as he heads into an abandoned housing complex near the site of an explosion. He was looking for a suspect in a bombing that disrupted a protest march. (Photo: Ed Wray, Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters march during a rally on Jan. 15 in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said elections, which will occur in less than three weeks, will go ahead despite intense pressure by her opponents to postpone the vote. (Photo: Wason Wanichakorn, AP)

An anti-government protester attends a rally at the Victory Monument on Jan. 14 in Bangkok. Thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully on government offices in a bid to persuade civil servants to stop work and join their campaign to shut down the city. (Photo: Narong Sangnak, epa)

A protester waves a Thai national flag during a demonstration against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra outside the Royal Thai Police headquarters in the Pathumwan district. (Photo: John Minchillo, AP)

Anti-government protesters lock arms during a demonstration outside the Royal Thai Police headquarters in the Pathumwan district on Jan. 14 in Bangkok. Thailand's political crisis ground on Tuesday as the country's prime minister reiterated her refusal to quit as protesters trying to topple her administration blocked key roads in the heart of Bangkok for a second day. The demonstrators had pledged to "shut down" the city of 12 million people, but life in most of the vast metropolis was unaffected, with school classes restarting, commuters heading to work and most businesses open. (Photo: John Minchillo, AP)

Anti-government protesters block a street on Jan. 13 in Bangkok. Demonstrators blocked major intersections in the capital in an attempt to oust the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before national elections on Feb. 2. (Photo: Ed Wray, Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters wave a Thai national flag during a demonstration against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra outside the Government House compound on Dec. 12 in Bangkok. (Photo: Christophe Archambault, AFP/Getty Images)

A protester shout slogans as he attempts to enter the Government House. Dozens of protesters climbed over the fence in an effort to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign. (Photo: Rungroj Yongrit, epa)

A boy wearing a T-shirt with the image of protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban stands at a destroyed barricade outside Government House on Dec.11 in Bangkok. Protesters are insisting that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down as caretaker leader of the government before elections are held. (Photo: Barbara Walton, epa)

Anti-government protesters riding on trucks greet each other during a demonstration on Dec. 4 in Bangkok. The protesters continued their demonstration against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra but there was no violence. (Photo: Ed Wray, Getty Images)

Demonstrators clean the road around the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. Anti-government protesters and security forces observed a temporary truce as the nation prepares to mark the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. (Photo: Indranil Mukherjee, AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters wave Thai national flags as they enter the Government House compound on Dec. 3 in Bangkok. Police did not resist as thousands of opposition protesters entered the government headquarters as they continued their attempt to topple the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. (Photo: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul, AFP/Getty Images)

A demonstrator cuts a lock off a gate outside Government House. Police guarding the compound just stood by and watched as anti-government protesters claimed a symbolic victory after three days of bitter clashes. (Photo: Wason Wanichakorn, AP)

A Buddhist monk washes tear gas from the eyes of an anti-government protester during a demonstration against the rule of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Dec. 2 in Bangkok. (Photo: Sakchai Lalit, AP)

Anti-government protesters rally at the Democracy Monument on Nov. 27 in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has enacted a special security law to counter demonstrators who stormed into government buildings during a mass protest against her rule. (Photo: Lam Yik Fei, Getty Images)

A woman listens to speeches and blows a whistle as anti-government protesters occupy the Finance Ministry for a third day as demonstrators attempt to oust the government of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. (Photo: Paula Bronstein, Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters shout slogans as they occupy the Finance Ministry on Nov. 26 in Bangkok. Thousands of anti-government protesters took over four more ministries, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Transport Ministry and the Interior Ministry after occupying sections of the Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry on Nov. 25. (Photo: Rungroj Yongrit, epa)

A Buddhist monk blows a whistle during a rally outside the Interior Ministry in Bangkok. Protesters want Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. (Photo: Wason Wanichakorn, AP)

Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a massive rally in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters on Nov. 25 in Bangkok. Demonstrators broke into the Finance Ministry compound, overrunning several buildings and cutting electricity in an escalating campaign to topple the government. (Photo: Narong Sangnak, epa)

BANGKOK (AP) — Anti-government protesters seized key intersections across Thailand's capital on Monday, blockading major roads into the heart of Bangkok's downtown districts at the start of a renewed push to derail elections next month and overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The protesters vowed to "shut down" the city of 12 million people, but life continued normally in most places, with the majority of businesses and shops open.

The intensified protests were peaceful and even festive, as vast swarms of people blew whistles, waved Thai flags and spread out tents and picnic blankets at seven key crossroads. Demonstrators wearing bandanas and sunglasses turned cars back.

Most Thai and international schools in Bangkok were closed Monday, as was at least one major shopping mall.

Enterprising residents set up makeshift booths to sell drinks, skewers of chicken and bowls of noodles, while others hawked whistles, caps and T-shirts.

The long-running political crisis has killed at least eight people in the last two months and fueled fears of a possible army coup. The army commander has said he doesn't want to be drawn into the conflict, which broadly pits the urban middle and upper class opponents of Shinawatra against her supporters in the poorer northern countryside.

The demonstrators, who accuse the government of corruption, have vowed to stay in the streets for as long as it takes to achieve their goals. They are demanding that Yingluck's administration be replaced by a non-elected "people's council" which would implement reforms they say are needed to end corruption and money politics. The main opposition party is boycotting Feb. 2 elections that Yingluck has called in a bid to ease tension — and which she would almost certainly win.

Critics have lashed out at the moves as a power struggle aimed at bringing the Southeast Asian nation's fragile democracy to a halt. Candlelight vigils have been held to counter the shutdown and urge the election be held.

Shinawatra said she has proposed to meet Wednesday with various groups — including her opponents — to discuss a proposal from the Election Commission to postpone the elections, according to Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana.

There was no immediate response from demonstrators, but protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said, "You cannot mediate with this undertaking, you cannot compromise with this undertaking. In this undertaking, there's only win or lose ... today, we must cleanse Thailand."

The International Crisis Group think tank said the chance for a peaceful resolution is narrowing.

"If the sides can agree on the need to avoid violence and for a national dialogue built on a shared agenda, a solution might just possibly be found," the group said. "It is a slim reed on which to float hopes, but in Bangkok there is little else available."

The real target of the protesters' wrath is Shinawatra's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields considerable sway over Thai politics. They accuse Yingluck of being Thaksin's puppet, but the rural poor like him for the populist policies he implemented, including virtually free health care.

Since Yingluck assumed the premiership after 2011 elections, she has walked a careful line with the army and her opponents to maintain political calm. The trigger for the latest protests was an ill-advised move late last year by ruling party lawmakers to push through a bill under the guise of a reconciliation measure offering a legal amnesty for political offenders. The last-minute inclusion of Thaksin led to public outrage and the bill was voted down.

Since then, demonstrators have steadily escalated pressure on Yingluck, attacking her office at Government House and the city's police headquarters for several days in December with slingshots and homemade rocket launchers.

There are fears the protesters are trying to incite violence to prompt the military to intervene, and Yingluck has dealt softly with the demonstrators in a bid to keep the situation calm. There was no effort by police to stop Monday's seizure of major traffic intersections.

The country's powerful army commander has repeatedly said he wants to stay out of the conflict, but in a sign of apparent impatience late last month, he refused to rule out the possibility of a military takeover.

"I'm here to get rid of Thaksin and his cronies," said Darunee Suredechakul, a 49-year-old Bangkok native and resort owner who is staying in a hotel so she and her daughter can join the protests. "The government has to go. Reforms must be carried out. This is mainly because we don't want to see the same old corrupted politicians returning to power over and over again."

While she acknowledged the street blockades must be creating some headaches for people, "Bangkok residents must be patient until we move past this point so that our children will not have to suffer like we do. Trust me. It's worth it," she said.

Van operator Wanida Jantawong complained that she was getting only a fourth of her normal business due to the shutdown.

"There's one lane that remained open for our vans to run, but there are no customers," she said.

Overnight, one demonstrator was shot in the neck at a protest site in unclear circumstances that appeared to have started with a brawl, according to the city's emergency medical services, said police Col. Wittaya Khongthong.

In a separate incident early Monday, a gunman fired about 10 shots at the headquarters of the opposition Democrat Party, shattering several windows but causing no casualties, said Police Maj. Nartnarit Rattanaburi.